Positive January sales figures for the nation’s largest automakers are good news for Northeast Ohio.

Nationwide, Ford was up 22 percent last month compared to a year ago, and Chrysler sales jumped 16 percent. General Motors reports a 16 percent increase, with the biggest growth coming in truck sales.

Lou Vitantonio is president of the Greater Cleveland Automobile Dealers Association. He says regional truck sales are getting a boost from new housing starts as builders buy new equipment. And fracking is helping as well.

"We also are seeing, in the east side of the state, a lot of commercial vehicle servicing and sales based on the drilling for natural gas and some other natural resources in the shale areas."

Vitantonio says the overall local January sales figures won’t be available until later this month, but he expects them to closely reflect the national numbers.He adds that the national figures are good news for the Ford and GM plants in Cleveland, Avon Lake and Youngstown.